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Many groups within our society agree
that the U.S. immigration system has
been broken for years. Some want a
major overhaul; others prefer a high-profile
quick fix.
Between eight and 11 million unauthorized
migrants live in the United
States. They come for many reasons—for example, to be reunited with family
members who are already citizens,
to flee political persecution or to have
greater work opportunities.
Last June the Pew Hispanic Center
released its report “Unauthorized Migrants:
Numbers and Characteristics,”
putting that number at 10.3 million
(available through www.pewhispanic.org/reports).
An estimated 57 percent of these
men, women and children come from
Mexico, 24 percent from other Latin
American countries and the rest from
other parts of the world. Most unauthorized
migrants come from predominantly
Catholic countries.
These 4.9 million adult men, 3.9 million
adult women and 1.5 million children
under the age of 18 have a major
effect on our health, educational, social-service
and legal systems. But that was
true for the earlier immigrants from
whom most of us are descended and
who contributed greatly to our country.
The last major reworking of U.S.
immigration law in 1986 took 14 years
of discussion, plus five years of congressional
negotiation. Good legislation
does not spring up like dandelions.
SPONSORED LINKS
 H.R. 4437 and S. 1033
Since January 2005, more than 40 congressional
bills have been introduced
regarding immigration reform.
On December 16, 2005, by a vote of
239 to 182, the House of Representatives
approved H.R. 4437, the Border
Protection, Anti-Terrorism and Illegal
Immigration Control Act of 2005.
Focusing entirely on enforcement,
this 257-page bill makes it a felony to
be in the country illegally, makes it a
crime to help them, penalizes state and
local governments that do not enforce
federal immigration laws and calls for
building 700 miles of new fence along
our 2,000-mile border with Mexico.
Last month, the Senate, which already
has many proposed bills about immigration
reform, was expected to work
on those, plus H.R. 4437. In May 2005,
Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.) and
Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) introduced S.
1033, the Secure American and Orderly
Immigration Act.
The McCain-Kennedy bill provides
for realistic enforcement measures,
stronger border security, help for
matching U.S. employers with foreign
workers and a way for illegal immigrants
to work toward lawful residency.
'Justice for Immigrants' Program
Last May the United States Conference
of Catholic Bishops unveiled its “Justice
for Immigrants” program, a multiyear
effort to educate Americans, especially
Catholics, about the need for comprehensive
immigration reform (www.justiceforimmigrants.org).
This campaign was launched at a
press conference in Washington, D.C.,
on May 10, 2005. Cardinal Theodore
McCarrick of Washington, D.C., spoke
there and identified the campaign’s
main goals:
• to educate Catholics and others of
goodwill about the benefits of immigration
and the benefits of immigrants
to our nation;
• to strengthen public opinion about
the positive contributions of immigrants;
• to advocate for just immigration laws
which promote legal status and legal
pathways for migrant workers and
their families;
• to organize Catholic legal-service
networks to assist immigrants to
access the benefits of reforms.
Cardinal McCarrick said: “The current
negative environment toward immigrants
is due in part to the horrific
attacks of September 11, 2001, which
have had a profound impact on our
nation. Let us not give in to the temptation
to scapegoat all immigrants who
come to our land—and who contribute
their God-given talent to our communities—because of the actions of a few.”
According to Bishop James Tamayo
of Laredo, Texas, who spoke at that
press conference, the reforms needed “will make our nation more secure by
bringing immigrants ‘out of the shadows’
and helping law enforcement distinguish
between those who help us
and those who seek to harm us.”
In 2003, the U.S. and Mexican bishops
addressed many of these issues in
their pastoral letter “Strangers No
Longer: Together on the Journey of
Hope” (www.usccb.org/mrs/stranger.shtml). “Juntos en el Camino de La Esperanza
Ya No Somos Extranjeros,” the Spanish
text, is available at www.usccb.org/mrs/strangersp.shtml.
It's All About People
Comprehensive immigration reform is
hard work because good people can
disagree about the best means to
achieve agreed-upon goals.
The starting point, however, must
be that immigration reform legislation
is first about people—not “problems.”
The title and contents of S. 1033 reflect
this more clearly than the title and
contents of H.R. 4437 do.
Proposed bills have good and bad
points. Politics is the art of compromise—but only after serious study of all
options and vigorous debate about their
merits.
The United States, a nation of immigrants
except for Native Americans, deserves
the most just immigration laws
that Congress can enact now. Deuteronomy
10:19 reminds the Hebrews
that they were once aliens in the land
of Egypt.—P.M. |
